Home
JoeF wrote:Dockweiler can now go down in history as having flights in 2025 from Ernest Feher and Bob Kuczewski for celebrating the birthday of Otto Lilienthal.
Maybe they will tell us the story!
Thanks for sharing the news Joe!
Ernest and I had a fun day today. Between us, we probably flew a couple dozen flights, and we entertained lots of passers by with descriptions and live demonstrations of how hang gliding works. Ernest was very consistent in steering people to the Windsports pamphlets available at the site, and I hope it helps their business.
To be honest, I wasn't looking forward to the drive and the anticipated crowds on the beach. I was worried that we might get there and find no landing area. I was also tired from a late night of playing with my recent acquisition of an Arduino trio (Nano, Uno, and Mega). But once I knew that Ernest was going, I felt obligated to show up myself. And it turned out great!! There was plenty of parking, and the beach crowds were not too densely packed. Everyone was pleasant and cooperative to give us large safe areas to land. And they enjoyed watching us fly.
Yes, the drive was horrible. Parts of Interstate 5 were shut down for a while prompting me to try a detour. But it was out of the frying pan and into the fire. The detour was much worse, and I backtracked to 5 without making any progress. It was more wasted time. But it was all worth it to have such a fun day of flying. It wasn't quite soarable, but there was sufficient lift for extended flights along the ridge - sinking, but slowly. We both flew Frank's former Condor 225. Thanks Frank!!
Ernest made a bunch of flights, and his old skills came right back. All of his launches and landings were excellent, and he even reached the wet sand near the ocean on at least one of his flights.
So thanks to Ernest for showing enough interest to shame me into having a very fun day!!
Finally, no post about flying Dockweiler on a Monday or Tuesday would be complete without thanking Joe Faust, Frank Colver, and LA County Supervisor Hahn for helping to open the site for non-USHPA members on those days. Thanks to each of you.
